


Transitions:  The Empty Town

by yinyang2261



Series: Transitions [2]
Category: The Tomorrow People (1973), The Tomorrow People (1992)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 03:17:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yinyang2261/pseuds/yinyang2261
Summary: Summary:   The Tomorrow People are without their special powers and encounter a mysterious girl in the empty town of Killarney, Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day.The Transitions storyline will cover events from March 1979 to June 1980





	Transitions:  The Empty Town

Ireland, April 1979

John abruptly awoke to find himself in the area where the rising sun was beaming its warm rays of light on him. The leader of the Tomorrow People was unclear as to why he had woken up so suddenly. He rose from the bed, stretching his arms overhead, hearing a few pops and cracks in his back and neck. He silently talked to himself as he went about going over the tasks of the day.

Going over potential Lab relocations, figuring out the best ways to erase information about the Tomorrow People from government computers. When is Dr. Wilson coming back to Earth again? Why do I keep thinking about Tricia? Reacquire various Lab equipment and experiments from Major Turner; that’s going to be a real bothersome task, wonder if Kenny could help us out with that?

John’s continued thoughts on this as he shuffled his way into the bathroom almost made him forget how cold the floor could be at the Forbes Castle. He went to take his toothbrush to begin his normal hygienic routine when he noticed that his clothes were already on. 

How peculiar, I don’t remember leaving my clothes on last night.

After his personal routine was completed, John decided to leave the same clothes on, since miraculously they weren’t wrinkled from his nights sleep. He went down the stairs, vaguely becoming aware that he hadn’t realized what time it was, the quietness of the lobby had brought this thought to his mind. He felt that he was forgetting something, something of great importance. Feeling his mind was still foggy, he decided he would take a quick walk outside to wake it up properly, hoping it would clear his head and jog his memory. 

John stepped out the doors leading to the outside and immediately stopped. While he had expected to see the usual environment surrounding the castle, instead he saw the setting as a village of some sort. A very quiet village. Unusual in that John assumed this Irish village would be active and boisterous with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

But wait, it’s April. St. Patrick’s Day was last month. 

John walked out into the quiet street, turned around and noticed the building he had come out of was not Bruce Forbes castle, but a non-descript two-story home. 

“Well, this is quite peculiar,” he said quietly to himself.

John was at a loss as to why he would’ve jaunted to a village this early in the morning. However, with all the events which had happened for the past couple months, for a change, he wasn’t one to complain. After looking about for a few seconds, he began to walk in the direction of a local pub he had spied down the road. 

Once he arrived, he went inside, surprised the door was open. But again, there was nobody here, however there was music playing from one of the speakers. John recognized the song as a traditional Irish lullaby called “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral.” 

“Over in Killarney, many years ago, my mother sand a song to me in tones so sweet and low…”

“I’ve always like this song,” a soft-spoken voice said.

John quickly turned his head to the direction the unexpected voice had come from. In a seat near the front pub window was a young, red-haired girl of about fourteen or fifteen years of age. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said.

John continued to look at the girl until realizing that he was probably being rude with his silent staring, “No, you’re fine. I hadn’t realized there was another person here. I didn’t see you in the corner.”

The young girl unseated herself and slowly walked to the music player, keeping a wary, but curious eye on John. She put her hand on the player, gently stroking its top, as if reliving a memory.

“My mother used to sing this lullaby to me and my sister when we were little. It’s always comforted me when I’m nervous or unsure of things,” she said.

“Well, that is good,” John said, for lack of anything better to respond to the girl’s statement.

“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Hush now don’t you cry!”  
“Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, That’s an Irish lullaby…”

There was a nervous silence between the two as the music continued to play in the background. John had the immediate thought that harm wouldn’t befall him from this young girl, which he realized, he hadn’t gotten a name from.

“I’m John,” he said.

There was a slight hesitation coming from the teenaged girl, as if she were deciding how useful it would be to reveal her name to a man she had barely met and spoken to. 

“I am Maeve,” she stated.

John nodded, “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you Maeve.”

John slowly extended his hand, hoping this would settle Maeve’s cautiousness and visually show her that he would not harm her. 

Maeve studied John’s eyes as she guardedly raised her arm and put her hand inside his. It was a gentle and warm feeling she had received, which brought her cautiousness down as she began to realize that he was of a friendly sort. 

“Well, we should go looking for your friends then,” Maeve stated.

“My friends?” John replied. As far as he had known, he was the only here. And there were still questions to ask which he had hoped this young girl would have the answers to.

“Of course. I think the dark-colored one is down the street at the toy store,” Maeve said as she began walking toward the door.

John quickly caught up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to turn around, looking at him questionably. 

“Maeve, where is everyone? When I was walking here, there was absolutely no one in the streets.”

“They’re at the St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities of course,” Maeve responded as she opened the door leading outside.

John was startled when he got outside to see Maeve doing cartwheels and boisterously laughing. A quick glance around his surroundings confirmed that the town was as quiet as it was before he had entered the pub. John resumed his focus on Maeve, who by then had stopped and was standing in the street, arms outstretched and head bent back, eyes closed as she faced the sun.

“Have you ever just enjoyed a good sunny day, John?” she asked, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out. 

“Well, yes I have, actually,” John stumbled out.

Maeve walked up to John, “You seem nervous.”

“I’m just a bit concerned about where your townspeople are. I haven’t seen anyone since I arrived here,” John restated.

“The party and festivities are outside the town over there,” she pointed in the opposite direction but both could see there was nothing going on in that specific area.

Maeve suddenly grasped her forehead with one of her hands as a groan came from her.

“Are you okay?” John asked, his concern for the girl rising.

“Sure, just a headache. Let’s find your friend,” Maeve suddenly said as she began to take the lead on their walk.

John followed her for a bit. She had quickly recovered from her headache and was enjoying telling him tales of her and her sister’s various jokes and pranks they would play on other people. If it hadn’t been for the strange emptiness of the town, John might’ve been able to rather enjoy her stories. There was an easiness and joy that seemed to radiant with each word she spoke. John had gotten the impression that she was a relatively happy young girl. 

Maeve had gotten to the toy store and was about to open up the front door when she noticed John was standing there, not moving, lost in thought.

“You’re not getting a headache too, are you?” she inquired.

John shook his head, “No, I just have the feeling I’m forgetting something. It’s been tagging at my brain all morning.”

“Come along then,” Maeve said.

Maeve opened the doors with a flourish as she stepped in and made a beeline towards the board game section. John walked in and looked around, spying many types of cars, dolls, models, and board games throughout the store.

“Your friend is in the back behind the curtains,” Maeve said, pointing to the rear of the room.

John noticed she had picked up a game called LIFE and began shaking the box. He walked towards the back of the room and moved aside the curtains to find a familiar and welcome friend.

“Elizabeth!”

The dark-skinned teacher reacted to John’s exclamation with a surprised response of her own.

“John, what are you doing here?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” John replied. 

Elizabeth put down a book she was apparently reading and rose up from her chair to properly greet John.

“I thought you were getting your teacher credentials updated in London this week,” John said.

“Yes. That was the plan, however…” Elizabeth hesitantly replied, unsure of herself.

John intensely watched his friend stumble for a personal explanation of why she actually wasn’t in London. 

“Elizabeth?” John asked.

“Yes, well. I certainly should get to it then. I just feel like I’m forgetting something,” she said.

John was brought up short by Elizabeth’s response, as he also had been feeling like he was forgetting something of importance since he woke up earlier. He realized she was staring at his hands.

“Did you take a drive here John?” Elizabeth asked.

John was puzzled at her question, “No, I jaunted here.”

Elizabeth’s became just as puzzled as John’s was, “Where is your jaunting band?”

John looked down at the hand his jaunting band would usually be on to discover it was not there. He regarded Elizabeth’s hands to visually see that she also did not have her band on. They both observed each other for a moment before taking stock of their unusual situation.

“So, we’re both miles from Scotland and without jaunting bands,” John muttered vocally.

John noticed Elizabeth developing a look of concentration on her face, which quickly became one of concern.

“John, I can’t jaunt.”

John attempted to jaunt just to the other side of the room, but found that he also was in the same predicament as Elizabeth. He then attempted to utilize his other special powers of telepathy and telekinesis, both which were not accessible for some reason.

“Our special powers are gone,” John said.

Elizabeth sighed, “I sometimes wonder how we’ll ever take over the world if our special powers go missing every other month.”

John caught the teasing tone in her voice, “Elizabeth, we can’t joke about this right now. Something is obviously going on. Did you notice the town is practically empty?”

“Oh? It was filled with people when I arrived,” she said.

Elizabeth got up from the chair and walked toward the front door and stepped outside into the empty sidewalk. The entire block as she could see confirmed John’s statement. She heard John walk up to her side.

“How strange,” she remarked.

“Everything okay?” Maeve asked.

The two Tomorrow People were startled out of their thoughts by the young girl, who had taken a position of being directly in front of the door, concern emanating from her eyes.

Elizabeth smiled, “Muirne, where has everyone gone?”

Maeve shook her head, “They’ve all gone to the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, and my name is Maeve.”

Maeve pointed in the direction of the festival she had shown John earlier, but again, all John and Elizabeth saw was an empty field. 

“Maeve?” Elizabeth asked, obviously puzzled by the girl’s response.

“Muirne is my sister’s name. She should be at the St. Patrick’s Day festivities already. We should head over there before she gets worried. Unless you two want to explore the town, but who wants to explore an empty, boring town anyway. There’s much more fun where I’m headed. Your choice.” Maeve stated over her shoulder as she walked in the direction she insisted the festivities were.

John and Elizabeth eyed each other questionably, warily concerned about what they were potentially getting themselves into. However, they relented and decided to follow their native guide.

After listening to Maeve talk about everything which spanned the range of the easiness she retained calculus to the numerous times she and her sister had caught the Star Wars movie, John asked for her to walk up a bit while he talked to Elizabeth. The young girl was very easy to accommodate, John noticed, and for a bit, was somewhat guilty that he had explicitly said that he needed to discuss a few things with Elizabeth privately before they arrived at the festivities. 

“Elizabeth, do you remember how you got here?” John asked.

Elizabeth thought about the question for a bit before finally responding, “I’m not entirely sure. I remember going to bed at the Forbes Castle. I can’t recall when I got to Kildare.”

“Is that where we are?” John inquired.

“I recognized the Cathedral Church of St. Brigid earlier when I was walking around. Muirne saw me and told me I could meet my friends at the toy store and then sometime within, she disappeared. It’s why I thought Maeve was her sister,” Elizabeth said.

“Friends? Are there more of us here?” John wondered out loud.

“That was my impression when Muirne told me she was taking me to my friends,” Elizabeth said.

A sudden loud noise interrupted the two telepaths’ discussion. They heard an enjoyable shout coming from Maeve as they were suddenly confronted with the town festivities. It was a variable vision and audio of various carnival-type rides, smells of various foods, and loud music. Before they could completely absorb this moment, Maeve proclaimed she saw her sister and raced in the direction she saw her, over John and Elizabeth’s objections.

“Well, this is damn peculiar,” John muttered out.

“In this instance, I would have to agree with you,” Elizabeth agreed.

While the auditory levels were high from the workings of the various carnival rides, there was still one important element missing.

“Where are the people?” John asked.

“When you figure that out, could you let me know?” a familiar voice said from behind them.

John and Elizabeth turned around to find Mike sitting casually on a bench, eating what appeared to be caramel popcorn.

“Right, together again.” Mike said casually.

“Mike, how long have you been here?” John demanded.

“Good to see you too John,” Mike cheerfully responded as he finished up his food chewing.

John gave his friend the once-over and noticed that he also was not wearing a jaunting band.

“I’ve been here for almost a day it feels like,” Mike said. “You just missed Tricia. She went to search for Muirne. The girl brought us here before ditching us to go on some ride.”

The fact that they found Mike and that Tricia was also here prompted Elizabeth to begin coalescing what they had learned so far. As she began to work on figuring their situation out, John continued to question Mike.

“All day? It’s still morning,” John remarked.

“Might want to look again John,” Mike said.

John looked up at the sky and the horizon, which was seeing the beginnings of mid-afternoon approaching. 

Did we get caught in a time loop? John inwardly wondered.

“Mike, is there anything on your mind that you feel you’ve been neglecting? Anything of importance you feel you’ve forgotten about?” Elizabeth enquired. 

Mike thought for an extended bit and slowly nodded his head, “I have actually. Like there’s something that’s been at the tip of my memory I’m supposed to be doing. I wouldn’t even have noticed it if you hadn’t asked me Elizabeth.”

“Are you getting a suspicion of what’s been happening to us?” John directed his question at Elizabeth.

“Not necessarily, only that we’re all here in Kildare, Ireland, a town which has a population of over seven thousand, being completely empty on an important holiday, except for one child who goes by two names; we also have no idea how we got here, our jaunting bands are not on our person, and we have the strong feeling that we are forgetting something very important,” Elizabeth said as she counted her topics off by her fingertips. 

John put in his own observations, “Hold on a bit, Maeve said that her and her sister were sung a lullaby from their mother. She explained it helped her whenever she was nervous or unsure of things.”

“Maybe she’s not a single person, but her sister is a twin,” Mike added thoughtfully.

Elizabeth and John nodded slowly at Mike’s suggestion that Maeve was possibly only one half of a twin sibling. 

“Well, so far, we’ve only seen one girl or the other at a time. So if the twin theory doesn’t pan out, we have to ask ourselves why she is playing another role,” Elizabeth wondered aloud.

“Maybe her sister died and she’s still trying to recover from the loss?” Mike said.

“Possibly, Mike,” John replied. “Why would you say that?”

Mike thought for a bit, “I’m not entirely sure, John. It was just a random thought that came to me.”

John was about to add another theory related to their lack of special powers when Tricia appeared from around a nearby building. John noticed immediately there was a frustrated expression on her face and unexpectedly had to fight the urge to comfort her.

“Well, look who decided to show up,” Tricia proclaimed, acknowledging John and Elizabeth. 

The trio of telepaths immediately shared notes and caught up on their various theories as to what was going on with their lack of special powers, the empty town, and the girl who had appeared throughout various times in locations about the town. 

“Are any of the others here?” Tricia asked.

“No, it’s just us four,” Elizabeth replied.

“How do you know this Elizabeth?” Mike asked.

Elizabeth was quiet for a bit as she inwardly thought about the question, “A feeling. I believe we’re the only Tomorrow People here in town.”

“Could she be an alien?” Mike wondered out loud.

“That’s also something to be considered. It would explain why a town celebrating its most famous holiday is so empty,” John said carefully.

“You don’t sound so sure,” Mike said.

“It was what Maeve said earlier when I first met her. She was listening to “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral” and remarking about how her mother used to sing this song which soothed her in times of stress,” John said.

Tricia thought for a bit, “What could be possibly stressing Maeve so much that she would need to listen to the song?”

“I don’t know, but I do suspect her mother has been out of the picture for awhile, possibly even passed away,” John said.

“So instead of her sister, it’s possibly her mother whom she’s sad about; and also because you stated she used to sing this lullaby to Maeve. I see.,” Mike said.

Elizabeth spoke up, “Mike and Tricia, you two have only seen Muirne, correct?”

Mike and Tricia nodded their heads, confirming her statement. Elizabeth then regarded John with her next question.

“You’ve only seen Maeve,” she stated.

“Yes. What are you getting at Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth was deep in thought, “I don’t know. I’m just saying it out loud to remember. Mike and Tricia have only spoken to Muirne, while John has only talked with Maeve. I’m the only one whose seen and spoken to both Muirne and Maeve.”

John was thinking quickly, “I wonder what it is about you that the girl, or girls, find safe with you?”

“It could be nothing but coincidence,” Tricia added. “All of us started in different parts of the town. It could be nothing but a physical logistics issue. Elizabeth just happened to be in a place where these girls were within walking distance.”

“Tricia, is there anything Muirne told you about herself which was similar to Maeve’s comment about her mother’s lullaby. Anything that would put her at ease?” John asked.

“Muirne told Mike and me that she loved spending time on merry-go-rounds as a way to enjoy life whenever the carnival came around. It was her and her mom’s favorite ride. I went looking for it but didn’t want to leave Mike behind for too long. Now that all of us are here, I’m thinking it shouldn’t take us long to discover it,” Tricia said.

“You believe that’s where she is, Tricia?” John asked.

“It would be a good place to start,” she replied.

“Well then, that’s our first stop,” John said determinedly.

Mike was about to fall in step with John and Tricia when he noticed Elizabeth hovering back slightly. Allowing the two older TPs to walk ahead, he slowed until the teacher and current Federation Ambassador was walking side by side with him.

“You’re deep in thought,” Mike observed.

“Kind of you to notice,” Elizabeth muttered.

“Yeah, I see it too you know? What’s going on with him and Tricia anyway?” Mike pondered. 

Elizabeth shook her head dismissively, “New team dynamics Mike. There’s a whole bunch of us here now so it’s bound to happen.”

“Yeah, that’s another thing, where’s Hsui-Tai?” Mike wondered. “I know Andrew went with Kenny and the others for some memorial ritual of some sort; and Stephen and Tyso will be visiting their families.”

“Hsui Tai is taking it easy after her run-in with the viopath remember? TIM wanted to observe her for a few weeks to make sure she was recuperating properly. Much like he did with us from our first encounter with one,” Elizabeth reminded him.

“Oh yeah. Yeah, I remember. She was quite shaken up. I remember Andrew’s dad was hoping she would sing a few songs for the dinner crowd this week,” Mike said.

Elizabeth chuckled slightly, “Well, I also think it was a way for him to have us earn our keep while he’s accommodating us while we look for a new location for the Lab and staying away from the SIS for a bit until things settle down. He didn’t seem to pleased that Andrew had decided to not come back with us.”

Mike was going to continue on that subject about Andrew’s reasonings for delaying his return, but got stopped when Elizabeth had a shocked look on her face, as if something had mentally clicked from within. He asked her what was wrong and she quickly grabbed one of his arms and turned him more towards her.

“Mike, quick, and without thinking, no questions asked, what month is it and who are the bunch of us that are here and why?”

“It’s April, the majority of us came back to Earth just over a week ago so we could search for a new location for the Lab and…” Mike trailed off. “But that doesn’t make sense, its St. Patrick’s Day and that’s in March. Maybe we did travel back in time, but how?”

“Mike, I don’t think we traveled back in time, but we really need to find out what that one important thing is that we’ve all forgotten and I’m sure one of those girls can put it in perspective. Quickly, we need to catch up with John and Tricia,” Elizabeth proclaimed as she started a brisk walk to their friends up ahead.

While Elizabeth and Mike were having a quick discussion with the theory surrounding their current situation, John and Tricia were having one of their own, of a more personal nature.

“Everything going okay with you and Elizabeth?” Tricia asked.

“Of course, why shouldn’t it be?” John asked.

“I don’t know. Just feels like there’s been some strain between you two since we got back from the Trig. Maybe even a bit before then,” Tricia said.

“We probably just need a proper vacation. It’s what I was hoping could happen when we returned to Earth before we commenced with our location search for the new Lab and organization for deleting various files of the Tomorrow People from government information entities,” John said.

Tricia stopped suddenly, causing John to walk after her for a bit before realizing she had ceased moving.

“Tricia?”

Tricia held her hand up for John to delay his response; at the same time, Elizabeth and Mike had caught up to their friends. Nobody said anything as Tricia continued to allow whatever was affecting her to pass.

“I just had a memory of the four of us discussing our future plans at the Forbes Castle. We were having dinner, but then something had come about and I had to leave, but I can’t remember what it was about. I don’t understand why it was so intense,” Tricia remarked. “I’m sorry, we should find the girls and stop being delayed.”

“I have to agree with Tricia. I have the feeling we’re running out of time to figure this all out,” Elizabeth said.

“How far to the merry-go-round?” John asked as the foursome picked up their pace significantly.

“It should be just past those two game booths on the left,” Tricia replied, pointing to the specific cubicles which were less than fifty meters ahead of them. 

“I had gotten the impression that you hadn’t found it yet the first time you searched,” Mike said.

“You’re right, Mike. I didn’t,” Tricia said as she continued to lead the way. 

The foursome continued their brisk walk, slight confusion on their faces, but always on the lookout for the young girl. They finally arrived at the area where the merry-go-round was situated, already in motion with music in full play. As they walked closer to the ride, they saw the young girl name Maeve already seated on one of the horses and by their individual observations, was having the time of her life. John recognized the music playing specifically from the ride, as it was the same Irish lullaby he had heard playing from within the pub. 

“Come on, take a couple laps!” Maeve yelled happily to them.

“Young girl, you need to come off that merry-go-round right now!” Tricia demanded of the red-haired teenager.

“No way you old sourpuss!” Maeve cried back.

Tricia was stopped in her tracks by the comment, her face turning embarrassingly red when she heard a few snickers emanate from John and Mike at the remark.

“Maeve, Muirne, we need for you to get off the ride for a bit. We must talk to you before time runs out!” Elizabeth spoke out.

Elizabeth heard a disgruntled reply come from the young girl as she began her reluctant dismount from the horse. She then immediately turned to the others who had questions for her.

“Elizabeth, you seem to have a plan, would you mind letting us in on it?” Mike asked.

“More of a feeling really. But I won’t be certain until Maeve gets here. You’ll just have to trust me. John, I’ll need your help when the girl gets here. Afterwards, Mike I’ll need for you to come with me and Tricia you’ll be going with John,” Elizabeth said.

“But, I thought she was Maeve,” Tricia asked, confusion still pertinent in her tone and features. 

“Be prepared for an influx of recent memories,” Elizabeth added.

“Okay Elizabeth,” John said, still unsure of what to expect.

The young girl came up to the foursome as they seemed to have just finished talking about something.

“Why didn’t any of you want to ride? Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little go round with a merry-go-round?” she said jokingly.

Elizabeth came up to her and gently placed her hands on the young girl’s shoulders, “No, we’re just at a bit of a time constraint, that’s all. I’m sure we’ll all be coming back to the carnival soon and will take you up on the offer. But right now, I need for you to take my hand, while John takes your other hand, okay?”

The Irish redhead seemed hesitant to move forward, until she saw the softness of Elizabeth’s eyes. She turned to John, seeing the openness and security of his proffered hand. She regarded Stephen and Tricia who she felt offered an overall security element to this situation. As she slipped her hands into the hands of Elizabeth and John, she had a feeling that her life would from here on out, never be the same again.

As soon as her hand was in hers, Elizabeth smiled and turned to John and nodded. At the exact same time, they motioned to each other as they said these words.

“Maeve, come with me.”

“Muirne, come with me.”

Much to differing levels of surprise and recognition from the four Tomorrow People, the Irish teen gave the illusion of cloning herself, one going with John and the other going with Elizabeth to appear as two separate entities. The two teens were starting to become fearful as to what was going on. 

Elizabeth started the next stage of the plan.

“Muirne, do you understand what is happening here? Do you know why we’re here?” Elizabeth asked.

Muirne had a slightly panicked look in her eyes, calling out to her sister, who responded that she was near. Maeve was wanting to act strong for her but was also feeling a rising fear coming from within.

“It’s going to be alright Maeve. We’ve all gone through this. Just listen to my voice,” the soothing tone of John’s words.

Memories of the past couple days began to reemerge in each Tomorrow Person as they finally began to understand everything about where they were and why. Tricia had come to John and Maeve, while Mike went over to Elizabeth and Muirne.

Maeve was starting to feel pain in her head as his voice began to be the only voice she was hearing. She almost got loose from him attempting to go back to her sister.

[No! Don’t let them touch. We might never be able to separate them again if they do. We have to help them see this through!] Elizabeth warned.

[Why can I hear you in my head!] Muirne panickily asked.

[You’re one of us. Both of you are Tomorrow People] Mike responded.

[It hurts!] Maeve exclaimed.

[Trust us Maeve and Muirne. We’re with you the whole way. You’re breaking out] Elizabeth said.

[So much pain!] Maeve cried out.

[So……overwhelming……John!] Tricia exclaimed.

[Almost there, concentrate….stay focused] John snapped back.

[You’re killing us!] Muirne screamed.

[Hang on Muirne, we’re almost through] Elizabeth said, still within her soothing tone.

[Stop it!!]

***

John opened his eyes slowly, focusing upon the visual aspects of a person observing him. As he began to wake up more, he realized it was Tricia, looking down at him. 

“Was wondering when you were going to wake up,” she said.

“Where am I?” he asked as he began to remember the events of the breakout.

“We’re at the Sharpe residence, where we’ve been for the past twenty-four hours,” Tricia said.

“Since the breakout?” John sharply asked.

Tricia shook her head, “No, since we’ve arrived in town.”

John rose up from the bed and swung his legs down. For a split second he realized that he might not have been dressed but the fleeting image he saw of himself in the mirror told him otherwise. 

“It’s…starting to come back to me now,” John slowly said. “How are Maeve and Muirne?”

“They’re awake and recovering. Terra and Tia are with them and their father. Elizabeth and Mike are in the backyard,” Tricia said.

“Are they okay?” John asked.

“We’re all okay. We’ve only just been awake within the past hour. We were starting to worry about you and since I drew the short stick, here I am,” Tricia said with a slight arch to her smile.

“So tired,” John said.

“Terra and Tia took care of us while we were out for a few hours after the breakout. Still, let’s get you outside, the fresh air will do you some good. Terra or Tia will explain what happened when you’ve had a chance to get your bearings,” Tricia said as she helped John to his feet.

Elizabeth and Mike had already taken patio seats in the grassy backyard when John and Tricia finally appeared. The warmth of the day’s temperature and lively activity from outside the property allowed John to stay at ease. 

“How are you feeling?” Elizabeth asked.

John took a seat as Tricia took the one next to him.

“Probably about as good as all of you,” John said, thankful to Mike who brought him a glass of water.

“What can you remember?” Mike asked.

John took a long pull of the water Mike gave him, welcoming the cool effect the liquid had on his body as it went down his throat; images beginning to coalesce into a logical linear timeline of events of the past week.

“A week after we returned to Earth, we began getting images from dreams of Maeve and Muirne who were on the verge of breaking out, which I believe at the time, we hadn’t realized they were twins. I remember Elizabeth and Mike going to Ireland to keep an observation on their development until the proper time that they could introduce themselves. At the time, we had only assumed it was one Tomorrow Person so we were caught off guard at the realization they were identical twins. TIM decided to send us here to assist, but we arrived too late, as Mike and Elizabeth were trapped within the twins’ minds on the psychic level. TIM had decided to call up Terra and Tia who had personal experience in twin sibling breakouts, as they’re twins themselves, and we got special instructions on how to handle the situation. Tricia went in first, followed by me an hour later. We managed to keep Maeve and Muirne’s telepathic signatures from becoming fully entangled with each other’s and we helped them complete their breakout.”

Elizabeth nodded, “That’s good. Looks and sounds like you’re none the worse for wear.”

“I’ve never encountered a breakout like that,” Tricia said.

“None of us have. I have to say that this was our first twin sibling breakout situation,” John said as he took another drink from the water offered.

“Do you not have plans on how to respond when there is such a breakout?” Tricia asked.

“Of course we do, but we hadn’t realized they were twins until the last moment. Just Elizabeth and Mike alone couldn’t have guided them through their breakout. There has to be at least four telepaths to assist; two for each sibling. Identical twins are unique in breakouts because they’ve already had physical and psychic links established while still in the womb. It’s usually standard to assist one twin into their breakout first, and then the second twin. Because of the psychic energy it requires to breakout, it would not take much for a twin’s psychic energy to be intertwined with their sibling, resulting in a one-person condition; meaning that they would incorporate their strongest traits of each other and psychically become just one person instead of retaining their individual personality and character. This condition would also affect their physical attributes also; physically doing the same things at the same time. It would take an enormous amount of time to psychically disengage them from one another if that happened, and even then, the results would not be one-hundred percent corrected. It was one of the reasons why we had to “forget” that we were in the process of breaking out. We didn’t want to scare them into doing something reactionary which would accelerate that specific negative process” John explained.

“You have an excellent ability of recall John, very impressive,” Terra said.

All eyes regarded the approaching albino-looking young woman, who was accompanied by the father of the twins.

“Maeve and Muirne will be up and about shortly. I just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart, for helping them. I’m still at a loss for words of all that’s happened so far, but you have my complete and sincere appreciation,” Mr. Sharpe said.

John motioned Murtaugh Sharpe to take a seat with him while Mike and Tricia made some space for the concerned father. The two then excused themselves, letting the father know they were going to check in on his daughters and left with Terra. While John knew his friends didn’t have to leave, he was appreciative that they did, as Mr. Sharpe might become overwhelmed with four people talking to him all at once. 

“I know you have many questions Mr. Sharpe, but I want to assure you that Maeve and Muirne are in very good hands with Terra and Tia,” John said. 

“Have all of you gone through this before?” Mr. Sharpe asked.

Elizabeth nodded her head, “Yes, we all have. We call it breaking out. This is when our special powers are emerging and many times when other telepaths are involved, the process can be very intense and dangerous.”

“I have to apologize Mr. Sharpe, we hadn’t realized your daughters were twins breaking out at the same time, or we would’ve utilized a different way to assist in the emergence of their powers,” John sincerely said.

“Are twins different?” Mr. Sharpe asked as his concern began to rise.

John was looking for the best response to the question without giving Mr. Sharpe even more worry. He felt that this line of questioning would be better responded to by Terra or Tia, since they had the personal experience of also having had to breakout at the same time.

Elizabeth chimed in, “Mr. Sharpe, we have differing ways of assisting twins, which is no different from when an individual breaks out. Because there are two, we usually have to have just a few more telepaths to assist. It’s very standard and has been utilized on more than one occasion. Think of it as puberty that happens all at once instead of throughout the teenage years.” 

Elizabeth explained in as much laymen’s terms as possible, easing Mr. Sharpe’s concern a bit.

“This will be a lot for the girls to take in,” Mr. Sharpe said softly.

John and Elizabeth regarded the father with sympathetic looks as they began the process of explaining to him what his daughters would be in for within the coming weeks.

Mike and Tricia stood off to one side in the twins’ spacious bedroom. At the moment the ATPs, Terra and Tia were explaining to Maeve and Muirne the importance of the next month in developing their abilities. The two observed that the twins, while still anxious about their new roles in life, they had seemed quite up for that upcoming task and it took a few mentions from the ATP twins to bring their excitement down a bit to where they could finish their explanations. 

“Whatever Terra and Tia have been telling them, they look quite eager to start on their new path,” Tricia commented.

Mike nodded, “I remember being that way when I first started out. I think most of us enjoy that freshness because we have abilities that we may have only dreamed about having. Who hasn’t thought about levitating stuff or appearing or disappearing to faraway places. When I had strengthened my telepathic ability, I would think about cheating on a test with someone whom I could talk to in my mind. But then I realized that I couldn’t communicate telepathically with non-Tomorrow People.”

“That sounds quite criminal,” Tricia said offhandedly. 

“You would,” Mike said with a slight unkind tone. “I don’t deny that. I just think that we all tend to have a bit of a selfish…or self-fulfilling streak when we first come into our special powers. It doesn’t last long obviously. Besides, I think it’s a bit of a self-defense mechanism we develop, to help maintain some type of normalcy in our life because we know that deep down, our lives will never be the same again. After all, we’re still just kids; well, the majority of us start out as kids anyway,” Mike explained.

Tricia began to regard Mike with a newfound respect. He seemed to no longer be the slightly delinquent-type youngster, but a young adult who was able to think through situations and observations with a critical mind, even if this young adult did have some issue against her for some unknown reason. 

The Federation Agent noticed one of the twins approaching.

“I’m sorry I called you an old sourpuss,” the one called Maeve said.

“Oh, well, that’s quite alright. You were in a most unique process of breaking out,” Tricia responded.

“Oh no, those weren’t my thoughts.” Maeve said with a slight laugh. “Muirne always thought that about you, I just happened to have the vocals at the time to let her concerns out. No hard feelings, yeah?”

Tricia watched as Maeve left with Terra down the stairs. She watched as Muirne gave her a slightly embarrassed smile as she left with Tia. 

Tricia shook her head and sighed softly, catching Mike giving her a peculiar look. 

Mike smiled and proceeded to walk out the bedroom to catch up with the others, “C’mon you “old sourpuss.” Times awastin.” 

“I’m not old. I haven’t even hit 30 yet,” Tricia said in her most agitated tone.

Within the next couple hours, it had been established that Maeve would be the first to have extended time with John and the others to Scotland while Tia would stay in Kildare with Muirne, for more psychic evaluation, to help ensure that the sisters’ telepathic connection would no longer be a danger to each other. Terra and Tia would be staying on for the next month, which they felt they would need to ensure no permanent damage had occurred during the twins’ intense breakout. Also, within that time, John had contacted TIM to send them jaunting bands and a few matter transporters for the twins, until such time that their jaunting abilities were at the standard level appropriate for safe self-jaunts. For the immediate future, both siblings would come with John and the others for a day at most to have a visual representation of Forbes Castle for when they did start to jaunt on their own, and to meet the other Tomorrow People who currently resided with them. As the twins assured their father that they would be okay, John began thinking of the sleeping logistics for when they returned. 

***  
It was late that same evening when John finally retired to his room at the Forbes Castle. He recalled Bruce Forbes face when he told him he would need a few spare rooms for a few nights to put the double sets of twins in. The living arrangement which Bruce had agreed to was one that was of continuous surprise; not only for the Scottish man, but also for John. When they had finally gotten back from the Trig and Andrew had made arrangements with his father to put the Tomorrow People up temporarily at the castle, it was assumed that it would be half a dozen at the most. But that had gone by the wayside quickly with Tricia accompanying them back and Stephen and Tyso arriving a few days later. Because of the lack of privacy and space, TIM was having to spend his time in orbit on a Federation style ship; as it would do no one any favors seeing a biotronic computer rolling around the property. 

There was also the ongoing issue of finding a location for the new lab. There had been some discussion with the others about where they could go. A few physical surveys revealed that the search would take longer than he had expected. Their last run-in with the SIS recently had determined that they would need to find a place away from London for a while; possibly even away from England. 

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He pulled on his bed robe and put on his slippers to avoid the slightly cold wood floor. He opened the door to surprisingly find Tricia standing in front of him.

“Tricia,” he said simply.

“Can I come in?” Tricia asked.

John showed her in. Tricia took a seat at the nearby desk, looking a bit more stoic than usual, John observed.

“I visited TIM at our orbiting ship. I asked him to help me get ahold of a friend of mine.”

John sat down on his bed, “Well, that’s fine Tricia. We’ve all got family we’ve been wanting to see for a while.”

“Well, I was able to actually talk with her. She’s invited me to her wedding next month. I was planning on going and…I was hoping you would accompany me.”

“Oh, well…I don’t know Tricia…” John said slightly nervously.

“You did promise me you would come with me when I visited,” Tricia reminded him.

“Yes, I know. But I hadn’t expected it to be as your “plus one” on this trip,” John said.

Tricia smirked a bit, “Never been to a wedding, John?”

“Not since I was 12, actually,” John replied.

He noticed Tricia stood up from the chair and sat next to him on the bed, involuntarily causing his body to stiffen slightly.

“Well, it is a month away. Plenty of time to buy a tux. I think you would look quite handsome in one” she said.

The two twentysomethings regarded each other for a bit, somewhat unsure of what to say or do next. Tricia smiled slightly; she laid her hand on his hand, a sincere and intense look on her features, before standing up and showing herself the door. As she opened it, she glanced back and gave John a steady look.

“Good night, John.”

John said the same words as Tricia closed the door behind her. He sat on the bed for a long moment, confused, and a bit annoyed at himself for wanting her to have stayed for a longer while. 

The End


End file.
